OCVarsity will be previewing every Orange County high school football league and every team before the season begins.
BRAVO LEAGUE PREVIEW
The Bravo League is a six-team league that includes Corona del Mar, Newport Harbor, San Juan Hills, Tesoro, Villa Park and Yorba Linda.
CORONA DEL MAR
Top players: Brady Annett, QB, Sr.; Tucker Murray, WR/DB, Jr.; Judah Snow, OL, Sr.; Dorsett Stecker, RB/WR/DB, Sr.; Damien Zeno-Herrera, Sr., DL.
What to expect: A team needs playmakers to compete in the high-quality Bravo League, and the Sea Kings, who went 4-6 overall and 1-4 in league last year, have a couple of good ones. Dorsett Stecker, the team’s leading receiver last season when he was All-Bravo League second team with 54 catches for 726 yards and nine touchdowns, will be an offensive focal point including lining up in the backfield in some sets. Brady Annett took over as starting quarterback for the second half of the 2024 season and finished with 1,062 passing yards and nine touchdowns. Landon Rucker and Judah Snow will be three-year starters on the offensive line. Corona del Mar’s defense could see improvement, too, with the return of a few key players, including all-league second-team selections Scott Anderson at linebacker, Tucker Murray at cornerback and Damian Zeno-Herrera at defensive line.
NEWPORT HARBOR
Top players: Glenn Baranoski, RB/LB, Sr.; Jagger Denoon, OL/DL, Sr.; Christopher Foster, OL/DL, Sr.; Jake Meer, QB, Sr.; Emiliano Torres, OL/DL, Sr.
What to expect: It’s always good to have a returning starting quarterback and the Sailors have one with Jake Meer, who was all-league second team last season. It’s also the second season for Newport Harbor to be in its current offensive scheme, so the Sailors should score more than they did last season — a league-low 20 points a game — when they finished 3-7 overall and 2-3 in league. The offensive line, led by Emiliano Torres, who was All-Bravo League first team last year, and Jagger Denoon will be a strength. Newport Harbor has many new faces on defense, certainly a concern given the high-quality offenses in the Bravo League.
SAN JUAN HILLS
Top players: Elijah Ayala, RB, Sr.; Luke Frith, WR/DB. Jr.; Timmy Herr, QB, Sr.; Cooper Javorsky, OL/DL, Sr.; Dean Kolasinski, WR/DB, Sr.
What to expect: The Stallions went 5-0 in the league last season and look good enough to do so again. They are led by what should be a high-scoring offense. San Juan Hills, 11-2 overall in 2024, brings back some offensive standouts from last season, including senior quarterback Timmy Herr, who was last season’s league MVP after completing 69 percent of his passes for 2,230 yards and 22 touchdowns with only four interceptions and scoring nine rushing touchdowns. Also making this Stallions offense go are All-Bravo League first team selections Elijah Ayala, a senior running back, junior receiver Luke Frith and two-way lineman Cooper Javorsky (6-4, 280) who committed to UCLA as an offensive lineman. Junior receiver Ryan Matheson, all-league second team last year, was second on the team in receptions last year with 44 to Frith’s 46. Kolasinksi will shine as a receiver and safety.
TESORO
Top players: Nic Brubaker, RB, Sr.; Zach Claton, DB, Sr.; Wyatt Owens, LB, Sr.; Gleb Pozdinakov, DL, Sr.; Braiden Vaca, WR, Sr.
What to expect: If the Titans are to improve on last year’s record (3-7 overall and 0-5 in the Bravo League) they need to develop on the offensive and defensive lines. Gleb Pozdinakov (6-4, 260) has an offer from the University of San Diego. Linebacker Wyatt Owens had a team-high 95 tackles last season. Nic Brubaker, also a track and field sprinter, led the Titans with 527 rushing yards last year. Depth could be an issue, so Tesoro needs to stay healthy to move up in the league standings.
VILLA PARK
Top players: Sean Byrnes, WR/DB, Jr.; Luvie Clark, WR, Sr.; Maverick DeClark, LB, Jr.; Ethan Hedrick, WR/LB, So.; Parker Johns, LB, So.
What to expect: Villa Park will field a team with seven sophomore starters, so the early weeks might be a bit rough for the Spartans who were 7-3 overall and finished third in the Bravo League with a 3-2 league record. They had five players battling for the starting quarterback position during the summer, and Coach Dusan Ancich was still trying to figure it out (and enjoying the challenge) as fall camp opened because all five had played well enough to deserve a shot. The sure thing players include receiver Luvie Clark who was All-Bravo League first team last season when he finished with 32 catches for 624 yards and nine touchdowns. Junior linebacker Maverick DeClark, also a rugby player, will be a defensive leader. A running back to watch is Coy Collins, a transfer from Cypress, whose namesake father was an All-County running back at Loara in the 1990s.
YORBA LINDA
Top players: Thomas Knutson, DB, Sr.; Onassis Lim, LB, Sr.; Troy Roberts, WR, Sr.; Vaughn Sharp, RB, Sr.; Blake Thorp, DL, Sr.
What to expect: The Mustangs, who have six returning starters on offense and eight returning starters on defense, will be in contention for the league championship. Among the defensive returnees are senior back Thomas Knutson and senior defensive lineman Blake Thorp, both of whom were All-Bravo League first team last year. Senior linebacker Onassis Lim was All-Bravo second team in 2024. Troy Roberts, the team’s leading receiver last year as a sophomore, had 40 catches and was named All-Bravo League first team in 2024. Yorba Linda had not settled on a starting quarterback as of early August, with juniors Noah Trujillo, last year’s varsity backup, and Colin O’Connor, a transfer from Servite, competing for the role. Mustangs coach Jeff Bailey has hinted that the two might get equal playing time, a rotation system that worked well for Mission Viejo last year.
